1. Field of the Invention
Aspects of the present invention relate in general to financial services. Aspects include a prepaid payment mobile phone apparatus, system, method and computer-readable medium configured to display a real-time prepaid payment balance. Further aspects of the invention include a method of storing and displaying a real-time prepaid payment balance on a mobile phone.
2. Description of the Related Art
The traditional paper “gift-certificate” is gradually being replaced by prepaid payment mobile phones—debit-account mobile phones with a set limited value associated with a Primary Account Number (PAN). Some mobile phone debit accounts are affiliated with a particular vendor, such as a department store, supermarket or restaurant; yet other mobile phone debit accounts are affiliated with an acquirer, payment processor, or other issuer.
When a mobile phone customer makes a purchase, the prepaid payment mobile phone may be used to pay for the transaction. If the purchase amount equals or exceeds the value of the prepaid payment mobile phone, the customer simply pays the excess amount using cash, credit card, debit card, or other financial instrument accepted by the vendor. However, when the purchase amount is less than the value of the prepaid payment mobile phone account, the purchase price is simply subtracted from the prepaid payment mobile phone account balance, and a new balance remains associated with the mobile phone.
Mobile phone customers who carry prepaid payment mobile phones are often unaware of the debit balance of a prepaid payment mobile phone, especially on non-reloadable mobile phone products. While some issuers and acquirers mandate support for balance inquiries for some gift mobile phones and incentive mobile phones, such support is optional at merchants.
When issuers fail to support these enhancements, or when merchants do not support them, mobile phone customers are restricted to spending the amount that is available on the mobile phone within one transaction often without knowing the balance in advance.
When issuers, acquirers, and processors do not support these enhancements at the point-of-sale, the consumer is inconvenienced, and the process breaks down. Consumer frustration is common, resulting in higher amounts of breakage (resulting in unrecognized sales volume), and alternate forms of payment being used. Worse, consumers are discouraged from purchasing more prepaid payment mobile phones.
In the re-loadable prepaid mobile phone category, the only way a consumer can determine his or her balance on a mobile phone is by calling his or her mobile phone issuer/third party agent or looking up the information online.